Collapsible box



Oct. 13, 1936. c. E. DAY ET AL COLLAPS I BLE BOX Filed Nov. 5, 1935 Patented Oct. 13,1936

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COLLAPSIBLE BOX Clarence E. Day, West Springfield, and Marvin J. Bray, Springfield, Mara; said Bray assignor to said Day In the packing of various articles for shipment 8. light, cheap strong container is required which can be shipped in collapsed i'o'rm, and which can be readily and quickly set up by the user. In order to give considerable strength such containers have been made with plywood sides, reinforced at the edges by cleats, and in order to make them collapsible the various sections of the box have been connected together with endless wire bands. Such bands gave good strength to the assembled box, but left open seams at the corners. Other forms of hinge structure were subject to the same disadvantage, or presented the dimculty of giving curved comers on the inside of the box, thereby rendering the box unsuitable for certain commodities. These prior forms of collapsible box have also required thata large number of cleats be used in order to provide strength and to permit the prior securing of the bottom and top of the box in place after the box has been set up. It is the object of the present invention to provide a box of this general character in which these several objections have been avoided, and in which adequate strength and provision for attaching the bottom and top are obtained with a smaller number of cleats than has heretofore been possible. Certain of the .features of the invention relate to a novel combination oi materials out of which the box is composed, while certain other features relate to the novel shape given to the several box parts, as will all be pointed out more specifically in the following description and claims.

Refe g to the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the box parts in position for assembly, the top and bottom of the box being shown as detached;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the box showing the manner of assembling the top or bottom with the box body;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the collapsed position of the box body; and

Fig. 4 is a detail showing the manner in which the comers of thebox body are formed.

The box body is formed of four panels, side panels I0 and H, and end panels I! and [3.

- which completely filled the container.

panels may be interchanged by making corresponding changes in the remainder of the box. The box body is completed by cleats ll, which it will be noted are only four in number, positioned at the edges of the narrow end. panels, 15 located externally of the end portions of the hinges, and secured as by nailing.

.The box top and bottom are identical and very simple in construction. Each consists 'of a panel l8, preferably of plywood, and two cleats 20 I9 nailed along the longitudinal edge thereof. When the top or bottom is in position on the box body, as shown in Fig. 2, these cleats l9 lie between those portions of the side panels l0 and II which extend beyond the limits of the end 25 panels, and are secured to those portions as by nails 20. The top or bottom panel I8 is also nailed as at 2| to the cleats ll. It will thus be seen that the cleats ll serve as reinforcements for both the end and the top and bottom panels; and that the cleats i9 serve as reinforcements for both the side and the top and bottom panels. This-is due both to the position chosen for the cleats and to the difierence in heights given to the side and end panels.

When the box body is collapsed as in Fig. 3

the cleats l1 lie in pairs one on the top and one on the bottom of the collapsed box, making it easy to stack the boxes in vertical piles with but little loss of space. The top and bottom pieces can be introduced into the same pile or can be piled sepmately. 1

Another feature oi'advantage in the described construction is particularly illustrated in Fig. 4. 'It will be there seen thatthe hinge members 5 I 5 take a smooth curve around the corners by reason or the fact that they are integral pieces which bend gradually as contrasted with a multipart hinge which bends on a single line. Prior constructions of this character havebeen-sub- Ject to the objection that the gradual curve at with the present device the side and end panels lie within the hinge members and themselves do not take part in the bending action. These panels form a perfectly square comer, even though the hinge members outside of them are bent into a grad-- ual curve; and this result is attained by simple sessed by the, flexible hinges as compared to the usual cleats, and aflords addedprotection to the contents if the box is accidentally dropped.

We claim:

1. A box construction comprising a box body having flat side and end panels, substantially continuous flexible hinge members connecting said panels so as to form a tube with open ends, one opposed pair of said panels being of less extent in the direction of the axis of the tube than the other opposedpair, cleats secured to opposite ends of the shorter panels at right angles to the hinge members, the edges of the shorter panels adjacent the hinges and all edges of the longer panels being uncleated, top and bottom panels of a width sufllcient to extend between and to be overlapped by the longer box body panels and of a. length sufiicient to extend beyond the shorter box body panels and to overlap the surfaces of the cleats thereon, said overlapping portions of the top and bottom panels being free from cleats to permit them to be directly secured to the cleats on the shorter box body panels; cleats secured to the other edges of the top and bottom panels in position to be overlapped by said longer panels for being secured directly thereto, and means for securing the first mentioned cleats to the top and bottom panels and the second named cleats directly to the edges of the longer box body panels.

2. A box construction comprising a box body having flat side and end panels, substantially continuous flexible hinge members connecting said panels so as to form a tube with open ends, each hinge member being formed of a strip of wood veneer with a strip of kraft paper secured to each side thereof, cleats secured to opposite ends of the shorter panels at right angles to the hinge members, the edges of the shorter panels adjacent the hinges and all edges of the longer panels being uncleated, top and bottom panels ,or a width sufiicient to extend between and to be overlapped by the longer box body panels and oi. a length suflicient to extend beyond the shorter box body panels and to overlap the'surfaces of the cleats thereon, said overlapping portions of the top and bottom panels being free from cleats to permit them to be directly secured to the cleats on the shorter box body panels, cleats secured to the other edges of the top and bottom panels in position to be overlapped by said longer panels for being secured directly thereto, and means for securing the first mentioned cleats to the top and bottom panels and the second named cleats to the] edges of the longer box body panels.

CLARENCE E. DAY. MARVIN J. BRAY. 

